So this is just my 2cents on this topic, would like to know what your opinion is on that.
Running and combat sports have been intertwined for ever. There are good reasons to that. Running develops mental toughness and will, and noone has come up yet with a better way to develop your heart. Numerous studies have shown that distance runners have stronger hearts than cyclists and swimmers.
The reason why is that, in order to develop your aerobic capacity, you need to work for a long time at a moderate pace, with your HR anywhere between 130 and 150 BPM approximately. The thing is that with swimming or cycling, you can't maintain that intensity for very long periods of times, since your muscles will give up before, which is NOT the case for running.
However, running a lot comes at a cost. First of all, even with very good technique, you are taxing your lower body joints, there is just no way around. Second, you aren't spending the time you are running working on your technique, and Lord knows that there is a lot to learn in MMA. We also know that "cardio" in MMA or any other combat sport is more specific cardio than cardio from an anatomical standpoint (Heart rate rest rate, Vo2max, etc. etc.). That's why when you take guys who have the same VO2 max but one has extensive martial arts training while the other hasn't, the one who hasn't will gas out way quicker than the trained guy. So specific cardio is a lot about relaxation, movement economy and efficiency, things that come with technical work.
So wouldn't it be better to sacrifice a bit of "anatomical" cardio by giving up running and taking this time to work on technique in a way that is also challenging? The results might be better in the end.
That's why more and more guys, like Joe Valtellini or Usman (because of his fucked knees) don't run and still have supreme cardio.
Now I want to share my own experience with you.
I used to be a pretty decent runner (37 min 10k, 17.5 5k), so I always had good cardio when I started martial arts, all the more than I kept running for 3 times a week.
But 2 years ago I started replacing more and more of that running by specific cardio (bjj drills, tons of challenging shadowboxing etc. etc. and my cardio has even improved.
So for instance, instead of running for an hour, I start with 30 minutes of shadowboxing (also incorporating kicks, knees, elbows and sprawls), then 30 minutes non-stop drilling bjj moves with a buddy of mine. I always monitor my HR with a chest strap, and I'm usually in the 120-140 range, sometimes peaking to 160-165, sometimes getting down to 110-115. So it is NOT as good of an aerobic workout as running where I am at a constant 140 for an hour, but I improved so much more from a technical standpoint (because of focusing more on technique etc. than just running) that this is largely outweighed by efficiency in movement etc.
Last but not least, my knees and hips have never felt so good, and my flexibility has improved a lot (it is known that running makes you stiff, high-level runners ofter are quite stiff, since it favors movement efficiency).
Bottomline, my Vo2 max might have decreased a bit because I almost don't run anymore but I never felt so fresh when training/sparring. I'm pretty sure I would crush and outcardio a parallel version of myself who would have run instead of doing that type of workouts.
Of course, this is just the experience of an amateur and not high level pros, but still. Of course, as an amateur, I still have tons to learn whereas high level fighters already know it all and thus can focus more on their conditionning (but with that being said, if you look at the UFC roster, there are still a lot of fighters who have big holes in their game)
Would like to hear your thoughts on that sherbros
